17Whatever
by MissCrayons
Summary: A spell gone awry sends Faith to Galway, not long before Angel was sired. Whilst Faith & Liam are going all Bonnie and Clyde on eighteenth century Ireland, Angel Investigations are working hard to try and bring the much-needed Slayer back! Unfortunately everything is a lot more complicated than they can even imagine. Faith/Liam
1. The Beginning

**A Brief Introduction**

* * *

Hello,

I began writing this story a long time ago. It's already been both completed and posted here, however a couple of weeks ago I stumbled back onto it and I was thoroughly ashamed of myself. The plot, I still love, but the writing was awful. My characterization was completely off. This story, which I dearly love, needed to become more than I had made it.

And so, I decided to breathe life back into it by completely re-writing it.

A large project, but one which I do with love.

If you have read the original, I beg you please try this one instead and try not to judge me for that. If you haven't, then I'm happy pleased to meet you and I hope you enjoy the story!

Our story begins in Orpheus.

And please, please feel welcome to leave a review, no matter what your opinion :-)

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**Chapter 1: The Begining**

* * *

Faith was leaning against a wall. Her mind still replaying everything that had happened today, not least the fact that her neck was still sore as a result of Angelus' attack. Unconsciously her hand went to the newly bandaged wound, tracing along the dressing gingerly, as if to make sure it did still hurt and it wasn't all in her imagination. Faith liked pain, she wouldn't deny it, there was nothing quite so grounding. You never felt as real as you did when you where in agony. Willow had offered to heal it, but Faith had declined, her inner-slayer healed her quickly enough. Even now a lot of the initial sting had gone, it was already healing.

Angel watched Faith quietly and from a safe distance, his head was all over the place, you'd think after a certain amount of time and practice guilt wouldn't still hit him like a sledge hammer. If ever there was an expert on feeling guilty, it was him, then again if ever there was somebody who had endless reasons and cause for feeling guilty it was him. Still the vampire was all too aware what happened when he _stopped_ feeling guilty, and that very fact alone made it somewhat easier to bear.

Standing there, so still, bathed in the moonlight with her thoughts a million miles away, lost in the stars and the past, he couldn't help but think she looked completely innocent. How deceptive moonlight was. He knew her, for what she was as well as what she could be, there was no innocence left in Faith and he wasn't naive enough to think there might be. Instead of ruining it though, it just made him feel closer to her, when he was with Faith, he knew she understood the guilt, the constant overwhelming shame of your past.

So many people in his life were black and white, it was always comforting to have another that recognised how many shades of grey there were between those colours.

"Hey," she said softly, still feeling slightly anxious around the vampire, Angel hadn't realised that he'd been caught staring.

"How're you feeling?" Angel walked closer to Faith, since there was no point in staying in the shadows if she knew he was there. Really he hadn't wanted this awkward scene, but it was inevitable he supposed. If she noticed the sadness in his eyes when she dropped her fingers from her bandage, she didn't call him on it.

"Like I did mushrooms and then got eaten by a bear" Faith mused, her tone was deadpan but there was some of the usual defiance in her eyes, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere.

"That about sums it up." Angel agreed. Trying to join in with Faith's attempt at humour, "and now you're going to Sunnydale?" Angel asked, there was a hesitance in his tone that he couldn't shake, probably because he didn't want to lose the bit of comfort he always found in the slayer's presence. Maybe it was just jealousy, because she was going where he knew he couldn't any more. It helped that she didn't look anywhere near enthusiastic to go either.

"I think I'd prefer the bear, _but _the way Willow talks it up" Faith paused for a second and looked into Angels eyes "it's where I'm needed." Angel was the first to look away, then he moved a few steps forward and leaned on the rail next to Faith. For a moment it looked as if he where about to say something but he didn't. Neither did for a few minutes. She was doing it, making a change, trying, he liked to think he'd helped in that, but she was a strong girl and he hoped that she'd have found her way without him eventually.

"Never stop fighting." Angel muttered, as if more to himself than to Faith.

"Hey! I was going to, until somebody got all prep-talky on me." Faith grinned and Angel couldn't help but smile. It was short lived though and Faith rolled her eyes, heaven forbid anybody caught him not brooding.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't get to see you. Our little brain trip not with-standing."

"Another time," they both knew there probably wouldn't be another time, at least not unless something went horribly wrong. They only tended to see each other when one of them fell of the wagon, and that was something neither could hope for. Plus Faith was going to the Hellmouth, to face another apocalypse, there was every chance she'd die.

"I have a lot to thank you for - " Angel stopped when he saw Faith shaking her head lightly,

"And vice-versa, but I even start it's only going to lead to hugging and - " Faith stopped, she glanced up at Angel and saw that he knew exactly what she meant, the two kept eye contact for a few minutes until Faith shrugged it off and smiled half- heartedly.

"Right" Angel sighed, "We can't have that".

"No." Faith turned and headed inside, Angel's eyes following her for a few minutes before he called out,

"Faith?"

Faith turned around, looking at Angel questioningly, Angel took full opportunity of the hesitation, walked up to her and hugged her affectionately.

"Ugh, you're going soft." Though she was smiling through the words, her arms wrapped around the vampire affectionately. It felt strange, she'd had the biggest crush on Angel throughout her time in Sunnydale, and it had always been there really, even beyond her want to get under Buffy's skin. Angel was an attractive guy, but being close to him like this felt off. Familiar, but off. She had expected to feel heat for some bizarre, but of course there was none, just a firm presence against her.

Sort of like hugging rock.

When she glanced up, proud of herself for making the observation in her head and not out loud, she was surprised to see Angel looking down at her.

"Do you feel better now? Can we disengage?" Faith was grinning and Angel rolled his eyes and pulled away, "oh don't play coy, I can see you laughing." The slayer followed Angel inside, ready to face her fate and head once more to the Hellmouth. It was a thing she was dreading for multiple reasons, not least because she would have to face Buffy. It wasn't that she didn't like the other slayer, it was just that she'd failed so many times, Buffy had witnessed Faith's worst times, everything she was ashamed of herself for, she saw reflected back at her from Buffy's eyes. It was a hard cross to bear. But if this whole experience had taught her anything it was that the hardest things were better faced than avoided.

Buffy needed help and Faith couldn't ignore that. They shared something, something that was bigger than shame and regret. They were needed, special, chosen.

"Faith, Willow is waiting" Wesley instructed, Angel turned back around and Faith nodded. There was a strange look in her former watcher's eyes, one that wasn't related to his usual '_I_-_failed-you_' look, which granted was still a lot better than his '_you-tortured-me-and-I-hate-you_' look. One day people would look at her without pity. Without guilt. Without anger. That day would be _fantastic_. The day people stopped assuming she was broken and started realising that she was just her, doing the very best she could and trying to be counted. The slayer nodded and headed back out into the main foyer of the hotel to meet up with the others, leaving Wesley frowning at Angel.

"What are you doing?" he asked, voice filled with trepidation.

"Hugging. I've heard it's customary between people who help others out."

In truth Angel didn't hug, he wasn't a hugger, he liked to keep his distance. For this very reason, Faith against him had felt strange. But not because _she _had, merely because his mind focused too much on things. It felt familiar, having a warm, strong body against him. A girl who was the same height as Buffy, the same frame more or less, a _slayer_. It was just another thing to remind him, constant ghosts of his past and everything he didn't have.

He missed Buffy in those moments more than he had in a very long time, or at least he missed _something_, the way she'd made him feel, emotions that he'd never had before her. Not able to put his fingers on his feelings exactly he did what he did best, pushed them down and pretended that he wasn't having them.

"It's going to take me at least a night to fix it," the faint grumble of thunder in the distance punctuated the sentence "and that's if this is one of those magical storms where it doesn't rain. You're not going before tomorrow." Angel walked in towards the last half of Gunn's sentence and he frowned,

"What's wrong with the car?"

"It won't start" Faith chipped in helpfully, having come in a few minutes before.

"Maybe I just need to try it again.." Willow offered optimistically, "maybe there's a spell..."

"Whoah, no thank you, I'm not driving all the way from LA to SunnyHell in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. No matter how much danger there is. Sorry Red."

"We can't waste another night, there's-"

"All sorts of bad things going down, I know, but unless you want me to go steal us a ride-" Angel scowled, Wesley almost protested, Faith grinned, it was the reaction she'd wanted. Sometimes people were so predictable "I'd say let's bum here for tonight and see how quickly we can get it fixed tomorrow. Sunnydale isn't going anywhere and to be honest, I'm beat."

"What do you think this is, a hotel or something?" Cordelia piped in, Angel gave her a look, she looked sufficiently contrite "of course you're welcome to stay."

"Do we get those little mints, on the pillows?" Faith goaded,

"No. And no stealing the shampoo's either."

"There are shampoo's?" Faith's eyes lit up,

"Only ours..." Cordelia wasn't entirely sure anymore that Faith was getting the joke.

"Oh so it's like an Easter Egg hunt to find goodies? I'm in!" Faith grinned and Cordelia was about to comment when Faith put her hand up "relax. I'm all reformed, promise. Now I'm going to find out if this place has a bar. Or a pool."

Faith disappeared off into the hotel, and Cordelia watched after her for a long minute.

"She packed a costume?" The others fixed her with sympathetic looks, and after a beat Cordelia got it. "_Oh_. Remind me to avoid the pool for a while."

"Maybe I should" Gunn started, but quickly changed his track after seeing the very poignant look from Fred, even after they broke up he was apparently still bound to behavior "absolutely not go anywhere near the pool. Check. Pool is off limits. That means you too Will" he added with a smirk.

Willow looked suitably affronted.

The conversation died down and without the slayer in play it seemed decided that they would spend the night here before heading back. Gunn would fix the car in the morning, he'd already headed out to get some parts. Willow had waited until everybody had gone before finding Angel.

"What if she changes her mind? Disappears" She asked gently, knowing she shouldn't doubt Faith, but that doubt had very tangible roots. It was partly why she'd wanted to get her back as quickly as possible. If Faith was going to change her mind, it meant scary things for Sunnydale. Loath as she was to admit it, they needed more help, they needed Faith. It was unfortunate that the other slayer was unpredictable and changeable.

"I don't think she will." Even Angel didn't seem one hundred percent convinced, "I'll keep an eye on her. You go and get some sleep."


	2. Company

**Chapter 2: Company**

* * *

It took him a while to find her, mostly because he wasn't _really_ looking. Angel wanted to believe that Faith wouldn't run, and looking too enthusiastically would mean that he doubted that she would be here somewhere. Instead he idled about, wandering around, trying to shift the heavy melancholy feeling that had ensnared him. How had something so simple as a hug made him feel this lost, this lonely? He had hugged Cordelia many times. Kissed even. But then he supposed it was different, Cordelia was here, _now_, new and familiar all at the same time. She didn't remind him of his past, she reminded him of something else he couldn't have. In a way that kept him focused, grounded.

Human.

Buffy had awoken the human feelings within him that he'd never thought could exist, even as Angelus he'd felt the echoes of humanity, love, the connection which he couldn't shake. She'd made him glad to be who he was, not repentant, like perhaps he'd done something right in life if she loved him.

Faith made him feel something completely different and he couldn't at all figure out what those feelings were. It wasn't good or bad specifically. Just un-placeable.

The hotel was vast, he checked all the communal rooms though hesitated on the outside of the pool room, unable to quite convince himself to go in. Faith was off limits, he'd known that from the second she'd arrived in Sunnydale. Attractive yes, but not worth the hassle. Plus everything with Buffy had been too raw. Now she just reminded him of himself, he saw so much of what he felt in her eyes. Faith was reckless and impulsive, she'd consume anybody who loved her, change them, envelope them. He couldn't afford that kind of temptation in his life. It was hard enough trying to keep himself straight, without the added responsibility of monitoring her behaviour too.

He would teach. He would guide. He would help. But he would do it all from a safe distance. One slayer was enough for a lifetime.

He was almost at the top of the building when he caught Faith's scent on the stairs, of course she'd come to the top. Where else had he expected the adrenaline junky? Wandering up the lesser used corridors of the top floor, they tended to avoid heading too far up as the space between them all seemed vast anyway. Closer together they were less likely to be eaten by whatever monsters lurked in the dark this week. _Well_, Angel wasn't really too worried about being eaten, but he _was_ driven by the need to protect those he loved.

Knocking gently on the only door in the musty dark corridor that had a crack of light coming from behind, he waited patiently.

"C'min" a voice shouted from inside and he didn't hesitate before heading inside. The room was in dire need of a clean, the bed looked threadbare and moth-eaten, the wallpaper had seen better days and the chair in the corner looked like it would collapse if a butterfly landed on it. However the balcony doors were open wide and so the air was fresh and clean, the heavy rain thundering down onto the floor and spilling onto the carpet. The view over the city was intense. He'd been up to the roof before, but never thought to check out the upper bedrooms.

All this and no Faith, her clothes were dumped in a careless pile outside the bathroom door and he remained standing in the room. Steam spilled out from the crack where the door was a little open, Angel caught the smell of soap and rolled his eyes.

"If you've actually found soap up here I don't even want to think about how old it might be."

"Younger than _you_."

"Touché."

A few minutes later Faith came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her that was at first glance a little too small. It covered the bits that needed to be covered, for modesty's sake, but definitely no more. Angel had forgotten how unabashed Faith was about such things. He wasn't sure whether to avert his gaze for politeness, or just ignore that fact that she was almost naked and dripping wet. Her hair curled against her skin, her face bare of make-up for once. Angel thought she looked younger, too young to have faced so much of what she already had.

"Willow was worried you'd bolt."

Faith's face fell a little and Angel almost felt bad for even telling her, he was expecting her to convey her disappointment, to talk to him perhaps about why everybody kept thinking the worst of her. But she didn't, apparently their sharing phase had ended.

"Well, here I am. What are you going to do? Sit vigil at my door. I could always use the window."

"In that case maybe I should stay right here?" Faith didn't handle situations like other people did, so he let her deflect with teasing,

"Well you never know, I could sneak away when I'm getting dressed. Whilst you're being all gentlemanly and repressed and averting your eyes." He chuckled dryly at her retort,

"Maybe I'm not that much of a gentleman."

The two looked at each other for a long minute, Faith trying to discern whether he was joking or serious, and Angel trying to figure out how far he would take this. He could see the hesitation in her face, wondering whether he was genuinely keeping watch over her to ship her off to Sunnydale. Or whether this was something else. He could see the hurt and turmoil behind her eyes, hinted at but not quite formed, he could dismiss it, reassure her. But in that moment, he was enjoying her not assuming she had the upper hand.

Faith was content by one fact, everybody played by the rules; she didn't. For once he wanted to have the upper hand, even for a moment, just to watch her squirm. It seemed they were in a stalemate, she didn't move, neither did he avert his gaze. It was like a game of Chicken, but with a towel and a very naked, wet slayer instead of cars.

That was when Angel realised a part of him wanted to see what was under that towel, justifications could only take him so far. This Faith, stripped of her disguise, make-up, was beautiful. Different. Everything she wore had become her armour, her identity in his head. Without it she was just a girl, a girl who was a lot younger than he, a girl who had been through so much. The vampire in him sought out vulnerability even when he had no conscious part of it.

Thoroughly ashamed of himself, he was supposed to be watching out for her, not goading her into being an exhibitionist, he made to apologise and leave. There was one thing playing a game when neither of them cared about the outcome, but if she did take that towel down and he wanted to see it, well it felt a lot more underhanded that a mere power play.

Then he stopped, Faith's expression wasn't playful anymore, nor was she looking at him. Turning his head slightly to the left, imperceptibly, he focused his senses on the dark corner. There were so many shadows in these rooms. How had he not remembered the reasons he disliked them before? Half of this room was black, almost unnaturally so, everything stopped. He didn't move. He'd even ceased his comforting facsimile of breathing.

Faith had sensed it before him because he was distracted, but now whatever was lurking in the dark had his full attention too.

Something moved, Angel's fist connected with it, making a loud sickening crack.

"Faith. Clothes." This was an order, he certainly wasn't looking at her anymore.

But the slayer didn't have time because there were more demons coming in through the open balcony door, she was on the balls of her feet and already trading punches by the time Angel had taken his attention off whatever had already been in the room. The vampire grunted as he blocked a punch from the demon, then landed an uppercut to the demons torso sending it sprawling into a wall, were it's head connected with a shower of plaster and ancient wallpaper, the demon fell unconscious to the floor. _One down._

"Angel, priorities. You can perv on me anytime, let's just try not to die. Kay?" Faith mocked, mimicking his original tone whilst spinning on her heal sending a high kick into the face of a demon, unfortunately the demon saw it coming and grabbed her leg, then using her own momentum, spun her into the air and let go. She landed on her stomach with an '_umph_' but was quick enough to backwards roll, both her feel connecting with the jaw of another demon that was about to bend over and presumably finish her. She was back on her feet, but there were two more behind her and one in front. They were strange looking things, about five foot high, considerably shorter than her at least. Their skin was almost translucent, no, she was mistaken, it wasn't translucent at all, it was changing, all the while to match what was behind it. They were wearing jumpsuits which didn't change colour, but their arms, hands, face and necks all did.

It was actually really cool.

One grabbed her wrist, Faith twisted and heard it's arm snap, but she didn't have time to enjoy it because another was already on her.

"Faith. Get into the bathroom!" Angel was grabbed from behind by two of them almost as soon as he spoke, they were like ants, every one you killed yielded a dozen more. There were too many of them. And he was surprisingly disorientated. Luckily his order had made Faith glance at him, as the two demons gripped onto his arms. Angel pulled the left one, with his full strength, it did little to dislodge his arm but it caught the demon off enough that when Faith rolled forward and swept a leg underneath it, the thing let go and fell to the ground. Angel used his now freed left arm and connected his fist with the other demons nose. It stumbled slightly, but it's grip didn't falter, the thing was smart though and enlisted it's full strength to propel Angel through the window. Both crashed into the cumbling veranda. Faith heard the concrete balustrade give way and her head snapped towards the door.

"Angel!" she yelled, turning back to the demon and breaking it's neck with a second wind. The slayer couldn't get to the window straight away. There were still two demons in her line of sight, weren't there more? It was hard to tell as she couldn't see them very well. Their strange skin coupled with the black jumpsuits threw her off. At least one had gone out of the window with Angel. Without looking Faith had grabbed the ancient chair, spun it up so that she could get a better grip on it and in a swift motion spun a chair up and caught it in two hands, she then smashed it over the demon's head pushing it into the other one, bringing the chair down atop their heads, they were out cold, the chair was splintered and Faith was left holding two sticks that used to be arms.

That dealt with, Faith rushed over to the window, making a grab at her towel as it slipped, fixing it once again, tightly around herself. Not that she really cared about people seeing her naked, she was more concerned about being arrested for indecent exposure. Standing at the top of a high building, looking out over the city, whilst starkers wasn't a particularly attractive vision. Before she could look outside to check on the vampire, one of the demons that apparently wasn't as unconscious as she had anticipated, now had his hand around the back of Faith's neck. She'd ask herself a million times _after_ the event why he threw her backwards onto a squat coffee table, instead of out of the window following Angel. But right then, all she really took in was the sharp pain as she landed awkwardly on the solid wood.

At the bottom of the hotel, Angel wasn't feeling too spry either. Dusting himself off and checking to make sure anything wasn't too damaged, he glanced around. Next to him he looked up at a rather prickly looking tree.

"This could have ended worse" he noted, before snapping his shoulder back into place without so much as a grimace. It was game-face on now and the pain was secondary to the worry about Faith and the burning anger that aroused in him whenever his adrenaline picked up. It was a good job Faith hadn't been the one thrown out the window, it took a lot to kill that which was already dead, but the Slayer wouldn't have been so lucky.

Walking straight back into the hotel, slamming both doors open as he went, Gunn and Wesley jumped before looking at him. They were in the midst of pouring over the local newspapers trying to find work.

"What happened?" Wesley asked, automatically fearing the worst and assuming that it had something to do with Faith. Angel's face was bleeding, his coat torn and there looked to be a severe gash on the side of his head.

"Took a flying lesson" Angel said, he grabbed a sword from the artillery cupboard and gripped it tightly, then to the other men he explained "Grab some weapons. We've got visitors." By the time Wesley and Gunn had moved to get weapons, Angel had already disappeared up the stairs at a run.

"Party time." Gunn smiled,

"It appears so." Wesley concurred, not looking nearly as excited about is as Gunn did.


	3. Door Lock

**Chapter 3: Door Lock**

* * *

Upstairs things weren't looking good for Faith, she'd broken something when she hit the table, laying belly down she wasn't sure what it was, but she couldn't move at all without white spots of agony appearing in her field of vision. The demon had her head gripped tightly, fingers knotted in her hair and was just about to snap her neck when a voice spoke up from the window.

"Leave the slayer to me." Faith squirmed and the demon threw her to the floor in front of the vampire, Faith tried not to scream as the pain ripped through her, instead she let out a strangled yelp. Fighting through the pain, she looked up and immediately recognised the contorted face of a vampire she'd faced before. As the words she was about to speak where almost out of her mouth, the vampire pulled and baseball bat from behind him and brought it up under her jaw, there was a loud crack and Faith was out cold.

Seconds later Angel was stood in the doorway, cursing himself for always being that little bit too late. No, not quite _too_ late, he saw the vampire yank the unconscious slayer up, about to bite her, and he growled loudly.

"Boys!" the vampire yelled and Angel heard windows of the nearby rooms smash, unfortunately the vampire that was holding Faith was introduced to the table beneath her, long before the cavalry arrived. Angel tried to carry her but he her something crack and winced, laying her down on the bed he deduced that it was probably better for now that she was out cold. He could already hear a commotion out in the corridor and he felt somewhat relieved that it sounded like Gunn and Wesley had caught up. He was about to head out when he felt a grip on his wrist, turning to Faith he shook his head.

"Don't you dare move. I got this."

"I'm fine. Just bones." Though she could move a little already, sometimes she really loved being the Slayer.

"Well at least you go help" she commanded "I got tabled. What's your excuse for being lazy?"

"I got thrown out of a window!"

"And you call yourself a badass."

"I've never once called myself that."

A grunt from outside the room, brought Angel back to what he should be doing. Leaving Faith on the bed, he headed out to help the others. It wasn't much of a fight, without their boss the demons seemed more intent on fleeing. Something the team were loath to let happen, just in case they decided to show up again. With the last demon gone, Angel turned to Gunn.

"We're going to need your van - " the three made their way to the Slayer's bedside, she was grimacing on the edge of the bed. Clearly trying to stand up.

"I think my leg's broken. And maybe my hip – but if I hear one joke about my age I'll be happy do demonstrate how strong I still am."

"We're already on it, we're going to drive you to the hospital. Just to get checked over," Angel was quick to add the last part faced with the expression she had fixed on him.

"Not to be disrespectful and all, boss. But we have a mad powerful witch downstairs - " Angel cut Gunn of before he had chance to finish,

"I don't trust magical healing, actual doctor's-"

"-and morphine-" Faith added hopefully,

"-are a better bet. Remember she might be the slayer but she's still human."

"I'm all up for going where there's morphine" Faith insisted. She vaguely remembered thinking that pain had been good, in this moment she'd changed her mind. Gunn headed downstairs to pull the van around, whilst Angel and Wesley hooked their arms under Faith's shoulders to help support the lame slayer without jarring her too much.

"I'm sure you've put on weight since earlier" Wesley observed.

Faith glowered.

"Put some back into it Wes" Angel teased, "we have a lot of stairs to get her down yet."

The former watcher groaned.

It was an exhausted Wesley that watched from the window as the van sped off into the LA night, at least the rain had cleared for now, even if the rain-clouds did threaten more.

"So new locks, you sure? Won't Angel be upset? I mean, he never seems to keen on the witchery when I bring it up." Willow looked at Wesley, skeptically.

"Just do it." Was the only answer she got.

"That's gonna take more then the Latin-spell I used back in the day," Willow sighed, then she turned to Fred, "do you have any candles laying around?"

"We should do, Wesley you'd probably have a better idea that me. Except the way you're looking at me, you guys want to talk, so I shall go and look and leave you alone." She disappeared out of the room, making sure to not-quite close the door behind her.

"One day you're going to have to stop blaming yourself for everything bad that happens to Faith."

"You don't understand, I was supposed to shape her, _help_ her and I-"

"I get it. I do. We all have guilt. We've all done stuff. We're not kids anymore. And I'm not going to lie and say '_oh no of course you didn't let Faith down_' because you did. We all kind of did. And she's let us down too so it's not a one sided thing. Once upon a time. But she's a big girl now. At some point you just have to let things go."

"I know. But I still want to do this. Too many vampires and demon's walk in and out of here at a moment's notice for me to not want to do _something_. Angel is too fixated on other things, somebody has to try and figure out a way to stop everybody getting hurt." He pushed a heavy tome over to Willow. She read through the protection spell and nodded slowly.

"Fine. I'll help. It's not like I'm going anywhere until Faith gets back. But this is for you guys, to help out, not to placate some sense of fault you have over Faith going cuckoo. The things she's done to you, you don't need to blame yourself. It's better to just try and think of it all as a fresh start."

Wesley didn't respond, just watched Willow carefully, silently, clearly done talking about things. He had been spending far too much time with Angel, _obviously_, rolling her eyes she sat down in front of the book.

"Fine. I'm going to need five plates, some dirt, blessed water, lavender, sulpher" a pause "some grass and an empty bowl. Please." Wesley stood up and headed out of the room "oh and some chalk. I'm going to need to draw on the floor." When he returned he had all of the items, plus candles which were being carried in by Lorne. Willow made to start arranging everything and glanced at the floor. "This will probably need to be done in the centre of the hotel, middle floor." She grabbed as much as she could carry, Wesley grabbed the rest.

"Anything I can do?" Lorne asked, seeing that everything had been picked up.

"I'm going to need a chalice of boiling water, if you don't mind?"

"Wonderful," Lorne clapped his hands together "anybody else for tea?"

At this point Fred had appeared too, with more candles, and the girls began lighting them and placing them in a circle. Once it was done and Willow had all her ingredients to hand, she sat cross legged inside the circle.

"Right, here goes nothing. Oh and nobody step _inside_ the circle, you'll probably get fried or turned into a frog or something." Shivering at her own mental image, Willow moved the bowls in front of her and picked up a handful of dirt. Lorne had already past the pot of boiling water too her and was now watching, whilst reclining on a chair, sipping his tea out of a china cup.

"Does anybody else feel like we should have popcorn?" His tone was hushed.

Willow took a deep breath and started to chant slowly. The words flowing from her mouth as if she had memorised them, more than that, like she was fluent and had never spoken anything else.

"Eilimintí maith sibh harken, thoghairm mé dhuit anois. Rialú ar an taobh amuigh, a rialú laistigh de. Talamh agus Farraige, Dóiteáin agus Gaoth. As mo paisin, ar an ngréasán a bheith sníofa. Ón síol, beidh mo a dhéanamh, mar sin mote sé a bheith."

At her words the contents of the plates started spinning in a circle around her, after this she threw the dirt on the floor, an act which caused the very ground they stood on the shake violently.

"What language is that?" Fred hissed nervously to Wesley grabbing onto his arm as she stumbled, Wesley was quick to secure his grip on her, holding her steady.

"Gaelic I think" he glanced at her "_why_?"

"I thought spells were mostly Latin."

"It depends where they were derived, it's intent rather than language. Words help our minds focus on an idea of what we want. There are cults scattered around that have transcended the use of words almost entirely within magic-" the building shook again, Wesley realised Fred had stopped really listening and was now staring up at a rather prominent crack that had appearing in the ceiling. Willow wasn't paying attention, she was completely lost in the spell, eyes unseeing, lips moving as she chanted and channeled the energy. Not for the first time, Wesley was grateful that Willow was on _their_ side.

The rumbling ceased and a gale-force wind swept around the room, sending papers flying and almost knocking them over. By this point people could barely see Willow for the dirt, water and debris that was swirling around the circle. The noise level was akin with standing next to a tornado.

""Curarea his verbes, a aditus recrissus est. Curarea his herbes, a aditus est" Willow said, firmly as if speaking to a person. Fred noted the use of Latin and shot a knowing look to Wesley, who couldn't help but smile when he rolled his eyes. This was different, Willow was no longer reciting the spell, instead she was talking to somebody. She tried the same sentence in Gaelic, and then in several languages Wesley didn't understand, or even recognise. He made a mental note to ask her about them later.

Then it was gone. The building stopped shaking, the wind was gone in an instant. And Willow was back, standing up amidst the mess she had created she frowned at Wesley a little.

"That wasn't a protection spell."

"It was. Of sorts."

"Don't lie to me again. And don't think I'm not telling Angel when he gets back. Also, you better tell me exactly what it was I just did!"

Angel looked around at the sterile white walls. He knew most people disliked hospitals and he wondered if it was because they smelt of death. The average human didn't know what death smelt like, they were confronted with it often enough – and in fairness hospitals did their best to try and disguise the smell. Bleach. Cleaner. They were supposed to smell sterile, but Angel could always pick up the subtle smell that over-rode it all. Survival, people disliked being reminded of their mortality. Hospitals were churches to mortality, they were where most people ended their lives.

Gunn was sitting on one of the cold plastic seats, designated to those who were waiting, his heavy boots were up on the white table and he was flipping half-heartedly through a magazine. Angel could tell he was bored, he didn't much care. Too fixated on he was what was happening with Faith, he wasn't sure what inquiries would be made into her injuries, be he knew how she felt when cops were involved. Or anybody asked too many questions. Faith was trying, but she always had that instinctual need to be free, anything that made her feel caged might well trigger that dormant temper of hers. Angel knew, because he had the same problem. He'd just had centuries to hone it.

"Faith?" a nurse said, reading off a clip-board and glancing around the few panic-stricken few that were waiting for, presumably, news of their loved-ones. "Is anybody here for Fai-"

"Yes. Me. Well, _us_." Angel headed towards her. Gunn dropped the magazine down with a slap and walked over too.

"Miss Lehane is sedated, she's had a lot of painkillers. She's dislocated a hip but we've managed to re-set it. Also there's a small fracture in her femur, she's going to be out for a while" the woman explained, scanning the chart in her hands. "We'd like to get as much information as we can about how she came about the injuries and we'd hoping you'd be able to tell us? She's had an ultra-sound and there doesn't seem to be any internal bleeding, but without knowing-"

"Didn't you tell you?" Angel didn't want to raise suspicions by telling an entirely different story than Faith.

"Actually, she's being rather difficult. She wants to leave but with the sedative we gave her and the extent of her injuries-"

"Let me talk to her" Angel interrupted, he had that charming smile on his lips, the one that usually got him his way. The one that Buffy had always told her creeped her out because it reminded her too much of Angelus.

"I'm not sure. We need to keep her still."

"She has this thing about hospitals, I can calm her down, make her see sense."

"Are you family?"

"Her husband" he said without thinking, why he said that and not brother he wasn't entirely sure, but he couldn't go back now. Gunn arched an eyebrow at him, amusement in his eyes,

"Very well. And your friend, is he family too?"

"I'll wait out here. Go and make sure the old ball and chain is all-right." Gunn was loving this far too much, "there's an article in that issue of Vanity Fair that I just _have_ to catch up with." His tone was deadpan and fed up, but he went back to sit down obediently enough. Angel didn't call him on it, merely followed the nurse to Faith.

It wasn't like it was hard to find Faith, he could hear her yelling from a corridor away, veering towards the curtained off area where the argument was coming from he walked in.

"Calm down _Dear_" his tone was firm, the pet name was enough to make Faith pause and regard him in horrified disgust, it took a second before she cottoned on. "They're just trying to help." So much for sedated, she'd already pulled the IV out of her arm and was sitting half off the bed, not quite standing.

"Look, there's _nothing_ wrong with me, I'm _fine_." She stood up as if to prove her point, the two nurses that were standing with her flinched at first and made to catch her, but when she stood up normally they looked more than a little confused.

"Sit down" Angel hissed, "look don't worry, I'll talk some sense into her."

"We need to get her back on the monitor, and get that IV back in."

"You can try!" Faith threatened, Angel ignored her.

"_Please_, just give us a minute?"

Eventually and somewhat reluctantly they agreed and left them to it, making sure the curtain was as closed as it could be. "You don't believe in making things easier do you?" He chastised, Faith frowned "never mind. How's your hip and leg."

"A little sore, but I'll heal."

It was probably the morphine that was keeping her on her feet, but her slayer-healing was on top form today. Already there was the ache gone from her hip whenever she tried to move it, and though her leg felt a little sluggish, she was sure that would be manageable by morning too. She'd definitely had worse.

Without speaking, Angel left the curtain for a few minutes, when he came back he handed Faith some scrubs, which was probably a step up from the thin hospital gown she was currently wearing. Stepping outside again whilst she changed, she came out holding the clip-board from the end of her bed. With props in place the two walked out, they met Gunn at the van who smirked.

"What took you so long? I thought you'd have been breaking out at a run."

"Just start the van" Faith instructed whilst opening the door and climbing in the passenger side, perching herself in the middle. It was a tight fit, but at least she wasn't just rattling around in the back. "It'll be morning soon just so you know, unless you want to be working for a pile of dust."

Angel and Gunn merely looked at each other, Gunn was certainly not Faith's biggest fan. She wasn't very good at making decent first impressions. Or seconds. But Angel was beginning to find her refreshing. What was this? They had to be in triple digits now for meeting? Well however many it was, now she wasn't trying to assassinate him, he was rather more accommodating. He made a point to remind himself that there was a big difference between understanding somebody and liking them.

Willow was drinking hot chocolate, they'd cleaned up most of the mess but she hadn't been able to figure out a way to undo what she had done, and so wasn't feeling particularly happy about the whole situation. Sometimes Wesley could really be a pain, and though she understood where his trust issues lay, especially with Faith, she still didn't like his dishonesty. Doing underhanded things make her jumpy.

They waited with baited breath as the three walked up the stairs, Gunn entered first without issue, came in and asked why everybody was staring at the door. Angel and Faith brought up the rear, Angel was sticking close in case she dropped, she was annoyed that he thought she couldn't handle herself. In short they were arguing. _Well_, Faith was threatening.

Gunn sighed,

"The entire way home." He answered the silent question everybody was thinking; _how long had that been going on._

Angel slammed straight into an invisible barrier, his eyes snapped up to the people inside, at first in confusion, then annoyance.

"You changed the locks?"

"Just a _little_ bit."

"On _my_ hotel."

"Wesley made me do it" Willow replied quickly, shooting an apologetic look to the accused, then she shifted her weight on her feet sheepishly.

"You could have at least given me a heads up. That gives me one hell of a headache."

"Come in then" Cordelia rolled her eyes at the others for not saying it "geez, lock a guy out and don't even invite him back in why don't you."

Angel thanked her and walked in,

"So are you going to tell me what exactly happened here?" His irritation was more directed at Wesley, but at least he didn't seem angry.

"I just wanted to stop every vampire and his dog coming in here" he explained, "this is our home and though it's all very good that the deeds are owned by a dead man-"

"_Er_ guys" Willow interrupted "is Faith still at the hospital?"

"No we brought her back with us." Gunn answered,

"Then... where is she?"

Everybody turned to look at the door, Angel walked and glanced outside.

The slayer was nowhere to be seen.


	4. Forward to the Past

**Chapter 4: Forward To The Past**

* * *

Faith didn't want to open her eyes, she came awake fuzzily, lost in that strange in-between dream land. Like on one of those days you just know you're feeling ill and so you try and put off the inevitable by sleeping longer, it scarcely works, but the need to try is instinctual. When she did finally open them it took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the dimness of the room. It wasn't somewhere she recognised, but the darkness was ominous, usually there was a manageable form of light _somewhere_. Now the only source came from underneath a door at the other end of the room. She could tell there was a window on the opposite wall because she could see stars. Individual and doing nothing to alleviate the current darkness. Stars but nothing else. Just glittering white dots breaking up undefined inky-blackness. It was surreal. Standing up and moving to the window, she placed her hands out and realised the only reason she could she stars and nothing else was because the window was boarded up. Pulling off a few of the loose bits of wood, she didn't see much more definition. Water. but she only deduced that because the inky blackness there, with the same glittering white dots, was moving ever so subtly.

There was no moon, or if there was it was somewhere she could not see.

It was only when the soft breeze through the broken window hit her skin, that she looked down and realised she was naked. The ground beneath her feet was soft and moving around a little she deduced it was either sand or dirt. _Wonderful_, why was it whenever she woke up in a strange place she was always naked, one day she'd like to wake up with actual clothes. People were a lot more accommodating to dressed people.

Well, at least _some_ people were. Moving around the room, her eyes adjusted slowly and she began to see more. That was her slayer lineage paying off, a normal person would be nearly blind in this light, but she was made for darkness. There were barrels for a start, stacked up all around the room. Crates too. So this was a storage room of some sorts? Continuing her search she eventually found something that felt like material, pulling it from between two crates she shook it out. It was a tattered old dress that somebody had evidently began using as a cleaning rag. It smelt of ammonia, must and stale beer. Faith cringed, mostly because she was kind of out of options. Grimacing she pulled it only over her head, feeling like the hooker-version of Cinderella.

That smell was disgusting, she was almost sure she'd been better off naked, though she didn't take it off as she headed to the door. Opening it slowly, the light was a shock. Blinking Faith walked into it, squinting a little at the sudden change. This was a bar, she'd recognise on of those anywhere, that smell, the noise. Even if it did look entirely alien. The floor was covered in straw which felt strange against her bare feet, straw on top of stone, the lanterns flickered strangely from the sconce's on the wall and everybody looked like they'd escaped from the history channel.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore Toto" she muttered to herself, nobody gave her a second glance, which was weird because she thought that her smell alone might be enough to attract attention. The bar, she didn't know where or even when she was, but the bartender usually knew what was going on. And she certainly had questions. By this point, some people at least were looking.

"You lost Lass?" the bartender asked, with a heavy Irish accent, leaning on the bar and watching her. Faith was quickly trying to figure out how to handle this situation, she'd been in many bars but only now was she noticing that she was the _only_ woman. Well no, looking closer there were two others, both sat on the lap of different men. Their clothes were nicer than hers, their breasts practically falling out of the corsets of their dresses. She had been wrong, she didn't look like a hooker, she looked like an urchin.

"Can I get a drink?"

"Do you have the coin?"

Faith frowned, unless there was a hidden purse somewhere in the rags she was wearing, she guessed not. Her face must have given her away because another man at the bar piped up,

"I'll buy ye a drink!"

The slayer arched an eyebrow and decided that she was perfectly willing to let him. The bartender seemed happy enough with that and soon enough Faith was holding a glass of beer. Except the amber liquid didn't _smell_ like beer. And the 'glass' was made of wood. Still it was alcoholic, she could tell that from the first sip, and Faith was never one to turn down alcohol. She finished the drink in another long gulp, if ever there was a reason to need a beer it was now, and put the pint down on the bar.

"Thanks" she shot at the guy, "that was probably the most disgusting thing I've ever put in my mouth. But thanks. Now is there a hotel around here? Or a phone? Or better yet a hotel with a phone. And a bath. And a mall?" A few of the men around the bar were looking at her now, evidently not comprehending a word she was saying. "I guess I'll head out and look myself then."

"You're not going after Jimmy here was kind enough to buy you a drink are ya Lass?"

"Yes. I wasn't aware the buying of a drink was a binding contract to stay."

"It's just manners" 'Jimmy' chipped in, grabbing Faith's arm. The Slayer frowned, glanced down at where he held her and then regarded the man with some amusement.

"I'm not a very polite person, keep your hand on my arm and I'll gladly demonstrate."

"You do always find the feisty ones Jimmy." The letch behind the bar chuckled. Jimmy yanked her close and she felt his hot breath on her face, it smelled of whiskey, _good_ whiskey actually.

"You've been holding out on me" she chastised, before snaking a hand around the back of his neck and slamming his face into the bar. He rebounded back with a crunch and Faith smiled innocently enough, "again; thanks for the drink Jimmy."

Faith turned and stalked out of the bar, well aware how many eyes were on her.

The outside was even more overwhelming than inside, there were houses sure enough but they certainly didn't look like anything she was used to. Closely packed together, the streets were cobble stone and dirt, the moon shone overhead which at least told her that it was closing in on midnight. The stone walls, were just that, smooth chunks of grey stone, not a brick in sight. The upstairs were smooth white and timber. Or more stone. Towering about her in impossibly narrow streets. Streets that would never fit a car down.

"Where am I?" She asked herself, befuddled.

"You're in Galway" somebody spoke from behind her, Faith spun and her eyes widened, "but I'd assume you'd know that. I mean, ye must've gotten here somehow."

"Angel?"

"I'm no angel Love" was that a slur? Faith frowned. The man standing in front of her looked the image of Angel, same voice, same face, same towering height. Except there was a flush in his cheeks, his lips were wet with saliva and his hair, though attempted to be pulled back, was hanging around his face. "You've got a task ahead of you if you're looking for one of them." This was surreal, she was listening to him speak but not really comprehending.

"Angelus" she intoned,

"Oh now you're just making up words." He stepped closer.

Faith stepped back, she had a wary fear of the vampire, especially incarnations of him that appeared to be playing dumb.

Except something wasn't right, she couldn't place her finger on it, so she stood there, almost transfixed, staring at him. He watched her equally as closely, after a long beat he made to touch her arm and she grabbed his arm roughly. He winced.

Angelus, one of the most viscous vampires that ever existed, wincing at her barely exerting any strength? She didn't let go, she was about to tell him to quit the act when she felt something that made her drop his hand quickly, pushing him back in the process. He stumbled.

Angel had a pulse.

"You-"

"Me name is Liam" he offered, watching her curiously, clearly now wondering whether she was altogether there. No matter really, she was pretty enough and that was enough for him. "And you are?"

"Beyond confused. What year is this?"

"I think maybe you should lay off the ale in future Miss."

"_What_?" She frowned "you were in the bar?"

"I was. I saw what you did to ol' Jimmy too. He had it comin' to him if you ask me."

"I didn't ask you." Faith snapped, her confusion making her tetchy.

"It's seventeen-fifty-three. May. Thursday. A little after ten. If that helps ye any." He was toying with her now, she could see it in his eyes, the spark of enthusiasm, like she was the most interesting thing he'd seen in weeks. It made the sides of Faith's mouth curl up in a smile that she tried to hide. Her mind was busy trying to process the information. So this was the seventeen hundreds, she didn't know much about Angelus, or anything about his life beforehand. But it didn't take a genius to figure out that she was looking at the man that had come before.

Angelus before he had slaughtered thousands of people.

Angel before he had spent years hiding in a sewer, moping and feeding off rats.

This was Angel before he'd ever met Buffy Summers.

That last thought sent a shiver through Faith.

"Liam?" She said the name slowly, double checking she had it right, he nodded and she smiled. "I'm Fai-" this was the past. Who knew what damage she could do here. Yes this could be a dream, some residual magic left over from their brain-trip, but if it wasn't – _and it certainly didn't feel like it –_ then the last thing she wanted to do was ruin the future. She'd seen Back to the Future way too many times for that.

"Faye? That's a pretty name."

"So why exactly did you follow me?"

"I thought you might need some help, a pretty little thing could get herself into trouble, wandering the streets at this hour." Somehow, she doubted his 'noble' intentions. Her eyes said as much, and he grinned clearly understanding, "I had an idea it might be more fun than wasting away another night in a bar."

"Well, I've certainly never been called boring."

She turned and the movement gave her a whiff of herself, Faith cringed and Angel arched an eyebrow. "Don't judge me, you don't smell much better yourself. And I woke up naked on a cellar floor, what's your excuse?" Liam's eyes widened a little and he was about to make further inquiries when Faith caught sight of a dress in a shop window. A pane of thin glass, warped and distorted her already grim reflection.

"'Tis a pretty dress. A shame they're not open until morning." He observed, Faith arched an eyebrow challengingly. This was the past, it was a refreshing thought, surely as long as she didn't _hurt_ anybody (t_hat didn't deserve it at least_) her conscience could remain in check, and besides there was every chance that this was a dream. With a swift kick, Faith shattered the pane of glass, it fell around her bare feet satisfyingly. Then, gingerly, she stepped onto the rickety stage that the dress was displayed on and pulled it off the crude mannequin.

"If you'd have asked," Liam said, standing inside the shop, "I'd have told ye that she ne'er locks the door."

Faith frowned a little, feeling a little silly, she was holding the dress and looking at it like it was a foreign object.

"How do I work this thing?"

Liam chuckled,

"I can't help you, I've plenty of experience in getting woman out of them, but not in."

"Well you're bloody useless then aren't you. You keep watch, I'm going to try this thing on. And no peaking." She winked, Liam smirked.

"I certainly can't promise that."

Faith decided in that moment, especially as the man walked to the open door and made a point of looking up and down the deserted street, that she really liked pre-Angel Angel.

* * *

**Present Day**

* * *

"Where is she?" Angel growled, they'd been over the text time and time again, but couldn't fine anything that would cause a living slayer to disappear into the abyss. Or _anything_.

"She might have just run Angel, we all know" Angel glowered at Wesley, it was becoming harder and harder to forgive his well-meant betrayals. It was always something. Some way to screw everything over.

"She wouldn't have."

It touched far too close to his own insecurities, he _needed_ them to believe Faith could change, could be better, because if they couldn't then it meant they didn't really think it of him either. Yes he had a soul, but he'd done plenty of things with a soul he regretted. Faith was reformed, repentant, she just needed people to trust that. He refused to accept that she'd run away.

"I don't know, I've looked at this spell every which way and I don't know what's it done or how it's happened. Everything _seems_ to have worked as intended, it wouldn't even send a vampire away. Why a slayer?" Willlow interjected cutting through the mounting tension still with some force left in her voice. Angel was about to say something when Wesley cut in,

"Angel, it's not her fault, she's tired. We can't do anything here." Wesley spoke firmly from behind Angel. A good distance behind. "We'll find out what happened to Faith, but we need to rest, Willow needs to get some sleep." Angel growled lowly, and slammed the book closed. Annoyed because they were right, but more annoyed because he was supposed to be helping Faith and now he'd lost her.

"Fine. You guys rest. I'm going to keep looking."

"I'll help" offered Cordelia, but Angel shook his head.

"No Wesley is right, we're not going to find her tonight."

"I told you we should have GPRS tagged her." Cordy insighted, then all eyes turned to her and her expression demurred a little "what? I was joking."

"There's a spell, one that Anya taught me."

"Anya. As in _demon-wish-freaky-I-hate-all-men_ Anyanka? That certainly sounds reliable. I say we go for it. If we want to wake up in a psycho dimension where vampires are in charge and all walk around in fancy suits and punishing people with number two pencils." Willow didn't respond to Cordelia's tirade, instead she was looking at Angel.

"It'll work. At least, I think it will. It's simple enough, I can try it."

"Don't you think there's been enough magic today?" Fred asked, quietly, Willow looked at her for a long moment, remembering the last time somebody had said that too her. Her eyes saddened a little.

"It's just a locating spell. I can do it in ten minutes. It'll either work or it won't, but it can't hurt."

"Are you sure you feel up to this?" Angel asked, genuinely concerned, as much as he wanted to get Faith back and on her way to Sunnydale, he wasn't going to risk anybody in order to do it.

"I'll be fine." Why did everybody always think she was going to keel over at one spell to many. It wasn't like she keeled over anyway, she just got a bit veiny, and yes okay, she was even losing that battle in her own head. But this was just a _little_ spell.

"Do you need ingredients?" Wesley asked, but Willow shook her head "just a pentagram. Oh _look_, there's already a pentagram" Willow frowned "guys why is there a pentagram?" Nobody gave her a solid answer,

"So what's the plan?"

"We summon Eryishon, to find what is lost."

Wesley's eyes widened a little,

"You're going to need something that belongs to Faith."

"Her bag's in the office, she doesn't have much." Gunn headed into the office, picked up a well-worn backpack and tossed it to the witch. "I figured I'd just bring the whole thing, better safe than sorry."

With a smile, Willow stepped into the pentagram,but left the bag outside of it, after a moment she began to speak.

_"Eryishon. K'shala. Meh-uhn."_

"There's usually a whole ritual that goes along with this" Wesley whispered to Angel, who arched an eyebrow.

"I'm going to go ahead and guess that Willow's done this before."

_"Diprecht. Doh-thenlo nu-eryshon,"_

"What makes you say that?" Wesley asked, curiously.

"_Child to the mother, mother to the sea. Eryishon, hear my prayer."_

"Just a hunch." Angel shrugged.

Within the pentagram something shimmered, a voice began speaking, one that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. It stopped abruptly;

"_Oh_ it's _you_."

"Hi" said Willow, a tad sheepishly, "I've lost my friend. Well she's not really my friend, more of an acquaintance. If that, really I mean,"

"Do you have something that belongs to her?" The voice was a lot more mundane now, like he was putting in less effort. Angel looked smug.

"The bag" the redhead pointed, "there."

Everything was quiet for a moment.

"You have your answer. Goodbye."

And the circle was devoid of presence again. Everybody looked at Willow expectantly, though she was frowning now.

"Did he give you an answer? Because I didn't hear him say anything" Cordelia said, as usual, what everybody was thinking.

"She's in Galway..." Willow looked thoroughly confused,

"Ireland?" Angel joined the confusion, "that's halfway across the world."

"In Seventeen Fifty-Three", this time it was Wesley's turn to pale at the information. He looked at Angel who looked suitably worried.

"What's wrong, what's with the serious faces?" Willow asked, "I mean beyond Faith having disappeared into another century, miles away and okay yeah I understand the serious faces. But on the plus side it can't get much worse."

"The year you were turned," he stated to Angel, who nodded dumbly. Willow swallowed thickly.

"How about that, it just got worse." Willow's voice was somber.

He didn't look at anyone else, just stared blankly, trying to remember.

"I've never been able to remember the year before I was turned. I remember the night I met Darla, I remember everything _after_ I was turned. But before that, nothing, not what I was doing, where I was. I always thought it was just part of becoming a vampire."

"I've never heard of something like that happening before and I've studied vampires extensively." Wesley replied, thoughtfully.

"I had a nasty feeling you were going to say that" Angel felt a strange sense of dread pooling within him. This whole situation was going to get worse before it got better, he could just sense it.

* * *

**1753**

* * *

Faith was sauntering down the dark street, all made up in her new dress which she had finally gotten on. Angel, _no_, Liam she reminded herself, had needed to tie the corset and had done so with a vigor that almost left her breathless. On the strange plus side, she noted in every reflective surface she passed that her waist had never looked so small. Nor her breasts so, well, _there_. It wasn't exactly practical attire though, and having looked at the dainty little shoes on offer in the shop, she'd instead stopped a few doors down and picked up some hefty leather boots. Liam had given her a strange look, but not said a word, and this time she'd tried the door first.

"Your people really aren't too security savvy are they? Then again it's a small town I suppose."

"It's a city actually" Liam piped in, Faith raised her eyebrows and took another look around. All she could see was squat buildings, and mountains beyond.

"Really."

"Yes, have you not seen one before?"

"_Please_" she rolled her eyes "where I'm from makes this place look like a shopping mall."

"Where are you from?" He asked, it was quickly becoming a habit of his to ignore what he didn't understand instead of constantly questioning her. He wasn't a stranger to foreigners.

"Boston."

"The Americas?"

"Americ_a_, just the one."

"I've heard a lot of talk about it, families fleeing across the seas for a new start. It's fascinating. All that adventure." Faith paused and turned to look at him, really looking at him and felt slightly overwhelmed at the situation. This man would become Angelus, he'd see plenty, and here he was as a human, desperately bored and wishing on the future. Faith had never imagined Angel as a human, it just hadn't been anything worth thinking about. But here he was, normal and restless. And _fun_. Angel never would have let her break into shops and he certainly wouldn't have helped her.

"I'm sure you'll get over there one day."

"You think so?"

"I'd bet my life on it."

"I'll take that bet" a voice sneered from the shadows. Faith spun around, Liam looked at the girl, since the person who'd spoken was hiding in the darkness.

"This was a private conversation" Faith griped, "do you make a habit of lurking in the shadows? Eavesdropping. Because I think that's a definite sign that you need to get out more. Or in more. Or just something, you know?" The person stepped out, their face was distorted in a way that made Liam step back from them a little. Faith recognised the face all too well, it looked like some things remained the same no matter the century. "Is this the part when I faint and scream? Because I'm not feeling it tonight. Sorry."

"Faye," Liam spoke but Faith put her hand up to quiet him, almost at that exact moment the vampire lunged towards Faith. The slayer flipped backwards onto her hands, using the backwards cartwheel to propel the vampire into the wall behind her. The thing hit the stones hard, dazed it climbed back to it's feet put Faith was already there. Having pulled a chair leg from beneath her skirts where she had strapped it to her leg, she plunged it into the vampire's heart and watched it turn to dust.

"I did wonder why you broke that chair" Liam spoke after a long silence, Faith realised then that this wasn't Angel, a habit she needed to get out of quickly. He was _just_ a man, a man who could probably, very easily get himself killed. A man who likely knew nothing about vampires.

"Well, you know what they say about following strange women around in the middle of the night."

"No, but I'm beginning to see."

"There is a slayer," the master growled, sending ripples of fear through the hoard of vampires surrounding him "we must leave immediately, it isn't safe here any longer." The vampire, contorted and aged beyond all recognition of his human self, looked around at his flock. His children. It had been a very long time since he'd felt the loss of one of his own, at least one that wasn't dealt by his own hands. Regarding each vampire individually, for a moment, his fingers domed in front of him and drummed together. It was unsettling, they had grown lax, lazy, and if a slayer had truly come to Ireland, then they were in no position to fight her.

There was a grunt of general approval throughout the group.

"There is a boat in the harbour, going to England, but it leaves after sunrise and is not for a few weeks time." The voice was small, insignificant, but the words were sound.

"After sunrise, which means we'll need to be settled below deck by the time they leave. Ready yourselves, we shall begin to move immediately. Brook _no_ suspicions."

"Shall we take the crew and passengers?"

"No, leave them be. It may be a long voyage and after all,we'll need something to eat."

The vampires made their moves pretty soon after the announcement, a lot were new and hadn't set foot outside of their homeland. They were excited, but there was one who wasn't, the Master walked over to her and hooked a finger underneath her chin.

"What's the matter Darla, are you not excited to return home, after so long?"

Yellow eyes looked up at him childishly,

"I can kill her Master, let me try."

"And risk losing my _most_ beloved childe? No, I will not allow it."

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hello, I hope you're enjoying the story! If you would like to leave a few words, whatever they may be, I would be _amazingly_ grateful! It would be nice to know what you thought/think. :)

Thank you,

Miss C


	5. Shadows in the Dark

**Chapter 5: Shadow In The Night**

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**Present Day**

"How many times? I _can't_ remember." Angel was clearly irate, he understood Wesley's interest but everything he could say he'd already said. The memories just weren't there, it wasn't a matter of trying to trigger them, it was like a black hole in his life that made him feel somewhat nauseous to think on too much.

"When does Darla show up?" Willow asked, subtly changing tactics having deduced that they weren't going to get much out of Angel the other way. Except the Vampire's annoyance. The redhead was sitting cross-legged on Angel's desk,a few books open around her and one huge one resting on her knees. Though it was getting little of her attention now.

"It was late in the year, I remember being a vampire for the turn of 1754, we celebrated in Dublin. It was" the vampire was looked wistful for a moment before shaking it off "horrific actually. But it was all new and exciting." _That_ was so easy to remember, the bodies, the blood, the massacre he could remember in vivid detail. They'd managed to procure some fireworks from a trader, who'd presumably brought them in from china, they'd lit one and stuck it in a man's mouth – just to see what would happen. The memory made Angel feel sick now.

"What about Christmas?" Wesley asked, trying to determine dates.

"I-"

"_I've brought you a present" Darla purred, as he awoke, she was stroking his hair gently, laying beside him on the soft bed. For a moment he was disorientated and wondered when she'd gotten dressed, he could feel the sunlight waning outside and the longing to ask her burnt within him. He wasn't allowed out while the sun was up, so why was she? How did she do it? She was teaching him but she was taking so long. "Hush" she said apparently reading his mind and pressing her plump lips against his lips seductively, the move made him want to rip her throat out, but he couldn't quite work out why. Abstaining from the sudden anger pulsing through him, he sat up, coarse linen sheets pooling low at his waist revealing his muscular, abnormally pale chest. _

_At the foot of the bed was a box, enormous, big enough that he could sit in it. With a wolfish grin he crawled towards the end of the bed, touching it to pull back the paper which hid the prize within. The box was quivering and the animal inside him forced it's way out in excitement._

"_Happy Christmas Angelus."_

"-was a vampire" he tried to shake off the memory "you know this trip down memory lane, is beginning to really get on my nerves."

"There's a watcher's diary from that time in my room, I made a point of collecting them after I got my soul. I'm not sure what I wanted to achieve from them, I couldn't even read them it was too-" Angel realised he was divulging too much when Willow looked up from her book with an arched eyebrow. "They're in a cupboard upstairs, they're a little singed around the edges but if anything big happened back then, the Watcher might have known."

Wesley nodded and left the office, he wasn't going to lie, he liked reading Watchers diaries and to get his hands on a volume that had been so long lost to the Watcher's Council was exciting. Even if Cordelia would have mocked him ruthlessly for it.

When he was gone, it was Willow who softened first and watched Angel carefully.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He lied, fingers massaging his temples slowly.

"We'll get her back, you won't have to add Faith to your list."

"My list?"

"Yeah, your things to brood about list."

Angel smiled a little in spite of himself, how rare that a vampire could surround himself with humans who knew him so well. Even Willow who hadn't seen him in a long time, could cut straight to the heart of his greatest fear. That he could let Faith down again, after hopefully finally getting through after so many false starts, before his life had even really began was a horrible notion. When he didn't speak, she did, "is there anything I can do?"

"Save your strength Will, chances are, we'll need some heavy magic by the night's out."

"Yeah. I am Magic-Girl" she concurred happily.

"There isn't much" Wesley was back downstairs, Fred was following him carrying the remainder of the books. They were mostly blackened, though the leather covers had done a lot to protect the pages inside. "The slayer at that time was in North Korea, the language is actually somewhat-" nobody wanted to hear about his translation problems "from what I can see there's nothing mentioned during that year, his slayer had her hands full where she was. Though there is a mention of another watcher, not active" he scanned the pages, turned a few, "it's the year after, it's noted that there was a spell to summon aid, it's vague but I think he says, '_to summon a slayer_'. He attempts it to no avail, and, well, his slayer was killed shortly after."

"So you think somebody summoned Faith? That means it wasn't me? Right?"

"Right. I mean, I'm not sure. I'll need to find the diary, I think Giles has the ones from London at that time."

"To chronicle the Master for when Buffy fought him, I remember him studying them."

"London?"

"The Master fled to London" Angel's brow creased "it was too dangerous to stay in Ireland. I remember Darla telling me, I first met the Master in London because of that. Do you think-"

"That the sudden appearance of a fully-trained, fist-happy Slayer spooked him?" Willow finished his question and Wesley shrugged,

"It's possible."

"So that means that all of this happened _before_? Faith caused the Master to run. She's not changing history?"

"History is complicated" Wesley shook his head "it could be that it's just trying to right itself around her."

"Angel, we really need you to remember."

The Vampire sighed heavily.

"Meanwhile, I'll try and locate the Watcher who performed the spell, perhaps his diary will be of some use. _If_ it's even survived."

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**1753**

* * *

This was worlds of awkward, Faith's pride was already feeling a little wounded, her little run in with the vampire, however tame had proven that though she was much better, she wasn't entirely okay. Liam had insisted (after she almost collapsed) that they go back to his place, at least until she could walk properly. Under duress she had agreed, and made it a decent amount of time before he'd actually had to help her walk the rest of the day. Faith chalked it down to the morphine wearing off.

Now she was standing inside, what she could only describe, as a very big house. Sat out of the city, surrounded by vast fields and green, steep Irish mountains at it's back, Faith was somewhat awed. She hadn't imagined that Angel had once been rich. To live like this? Walking inside, the hall was shadowed as there were only a few candles lit, and they were almost burnt out. She supposed everybody was supposed to be in bed, it was after midnight already and she frowned at how much her injury had slowed them down. A broken hip, that was certainly going to ruin her street-cred.

"This is a big house." She complimented, Liam arched a brow and chuckled.

"It's me father's, all of it, the house, the money. I just spend it."

"You still live with your parents?" Faith asked incredulously, "and you're how old?" It was a decent lead in, this way she could be curious about him without letting him know it.

"Twenty-six" he admitted, "I suppose you're all independent and self-sufficient. Who do you live with then? Let me guess, a poor old husband who doesn't know what his beautiful wife gets up to at all hours?"

"I am _not_ married" Faith insisted, firmly, her face betrayed the absolute disgust at that opinion, "I make my own way. Thank you very much. Listen is this going to be a whole meet the parents thing? Because parents really don't like me so I should just get gone-" Liam grabbed her hand as she made to spin away, his touch was hot, firm. Once again Faith was reminded that this wasn't Angel, outwardly she knew that, apparently her instincts hadn't caught up yet.

"They're away, you're perfectly safe." Liam was clearly amused, a woman who he had witnessed kill – whatever it was she had killed – afraid of meeting his parents. He had pulled her to him now and they were standing awfully close, Faith looked up at him, transfixed by his eyes. He looked so young, so full of life, so different and yet exactly the same. This face had been preserved for centuries, flawless, though whereas before it had always been marble skin, there was a weathered tan on this man. And the subtle hint of freckles on his nose. She'd definitely tease him about them when she got back.

_If_ she got back.

The enraptured expression turned into a frown at that point, if he looked so like Angel now, it must mean that he was turned around this time. A man who had his entire existence stretched out in front of him, a brutal, bloody life, she was watching it's conception. Faith should have been sad. But she wasn't, it seemed almost voyeuristic to be here, to be in Angel's past.

It gave her goosebumps in a very inappropriate way.

Maybe she could stick around, slay Angelus before he even had a chance to – no, that would probably be the stupidest thing she could do. Besides if she killed Angelus now, what would become of her in the future. Briefly she wondered what Buffy would do, given the same opportunity. Would she kill the man she loved to save thousands of lives? Actually, yes, probably. Faith was nowhere near that noble.

"What are you thinking?" Liam asked her, snapping her out of her thoughts, she realised she'd been staring at him for quite a while.

"I'm thinking" she placed both hands on his chest firmly, "that I hope you offer me a seat soon because I think I might actually fall down."

He chuckled, whatever mood there had been, or he was hoping for, was swiftly broken.

"I can do better than that, I can offer you a bed." Faith grinned and Liam, with barely a hesitation, lifted Faith up in a fireman's life and carried her upstairs, her protesting all the way.

* * *

**Present Day**

* * *

"There has to be _something_" Wesley mused, his patience was wearing thin, he'd been searching a reference to the diary he needed, something, anything, even a name would be helpful at this point. But though the spell was referenced in passing occasionally, the name of the caster was never committed to paper. Nor was he mentioned for any other purpose. It was as if he'd done nothing in his life except one spell, and nothing after, not even submitted the spell and results to the Watcher's council.

The few accounts he had read, surmised that it had worked, why then had this man not staked his claim to his legacy. Made it his own. Noted down how it had ended, had the Slayer gotten home? Had she died? Was there anything they could actually do?

"We have to get her back..." Willow urged him on, placing a hand on his arm in what she hoped was a soothing manner. Why was it that at times like this, she just wanted Giles. Giles and his cool head, his we'll-figure-something-out attitude. She was trying her best to emulate it, but inside she felt like everything was swirling in a chaotic mess.

**1753**

* * *

It had taken barely any time for Faith to fall asleep, but Liam had nodded off first. The alcohol he'd consumed had obviously caught up with him, leaving Faith at least a few sleepy minutes to recount the day. It had been a long one. Neither of them had undressed, he dropped her down onto the large soft bed, and all but fallen on top of her. He'd been asleep before they finished laughing.

Too exhausted to worry about comfort, Faith listened to the sounds of Liam snoring for a while, kicked his leg when he tried to roll on top of her and laid her dominance over this side of the bed. It was oddly comforting, even if it wasn't Angel, he felt like he was the known. Which in a great ocean of unknown was a tether she wasn't prepared to let go of.

Faith would survive, she was a survivor, no matter where she landed, she landed on her feet. She clung to that knowledge, the faith in herself that she had cultivated over years of having nothing else.

It wasn't long before the slayer slept.

Whilst she did, she was being watched.

A blonde vampire stood on the balcony, watching in through the thin glass as two figures slept on the bed. The dark-haired girl, still wearing her dress, was this the slayer? The one everybody was so scared of? But she was just a little thing. A slim girl that looked no different from any of the others that roamed the city.

The man looked nothing of a threat either, mouth open, snoring loudly enough to wake the dead.

The vampire wasn't afraid, she knew well enough that everybody had their weaknesses.

Even the Slayer.

All she needed was time.

And luckily, Darla had all the time in the world.


End file.
